Welcome to the PCI resource hub dealing with the subject of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
The debate and discussions around assisted suicide and euthanasia have become extremely prominent in public debate and political discussion. The Council for Public Affairs shares the resources below to help those in PCI to be better informed and equipped to engage in these debates.
It is our prayer that society will continue to recognise that we are all made in the image of God and we are therefore precious in his sight. As Christians we believe all life is a gift from God, and we recognise the reality of pain and suffering, however, we believe in Christ our hope in life and death.
As compassionate followers of Jesus, we seek to engage sensitively and positively with these topics including addressing the calls for changes in the laws of our lands. These resources are to help equip and inform you to do that. These will be added to as more become available.
Documents
A Christian perspective on assisted dying – Sarah McBriar (Presbyterian Herald, October 2024)
Report of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Task Group (General Assembly Supplementary Reports, June 2024)
Dealing with death – Prof Max Watson (Presbyterian Herald, Winter 2021)
Appendix to Report of the Council for Public Affairs (General Assembly Reports, June 2018)
Resolutions passed regarding assisted dying and euthanasia (General Assembly Reports, 2018 & 2024)
Health Committee Inquiry
Access to Palliative Care
The Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for Health is undertaking an inquiry into accessing palliative care services in Northern Ireland. As part of the inquiry, committee members would like to gather the views of those with lived experience of accessing palliative care across Northern Ireland, both patients and their families, along with organisations and health professionals.
For further information on how to take part, this link will take you directly to the relevant Northern Ireland Ireland Assembly web page.
The closing date for completing the survey is Friday 10 January 2025.
Audio
Living and Dying Well
On Thursday, 22 January 2015, as part of a series of events under the theme of the 'Church in the Public Square', the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Union Theological College held a joint conference on 'Living and Dying Well', addressing the ethical, pastoral and legal issues surrounding attempts to legislate in favour of assisted suicide.
Robert Preston, who was director of the think-tank, Living and Dying Well, which works to examine the objective evidence surrounding the controversial end-of-life debate and publishes research to help inform Parliament and the public, spoke on 'The Assisted Dying Debate: An Overview' where he gave an overview of the subject, linking the various strands together to show how they interact with each other.
Baroness Ilora Finlay, who was chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dying Well, a professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University and President of the BMA, spoke on 'End of Life or Ending Life', focusing in some depth on the medical aspects of end of life care; explaining what palliative care is, how it has developed and how it differs from what is called 'palliative care' in other jurisdictions. She also discussed the implications of a change in the law for end of life care.
Professor John Wyatt, who was Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College, London, lectures widely on issues in ethics from a Christian perspective and his most prominent book is Matters of life and death: Today's healthcare dilemmas in the light of Christian Faith. He addressed the pastoral and medical challenges from a Christian perspective.
News & Comment
Over the past number of years, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has demonstrated its opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia through various public statements. The Church has also sought to facilitate discussion and debate around the issue, from a Christian perspective, with a highly successful conference in 2015, and, in 2023, by giving evidence to a Joint Oireachtas committee. In order of their release - most recent to the oldest - you will find PCI's public comments on assisted suicide and euthanasia.